Notebook News: VAIO Baseball Offer, Laptops in Schools, Stadium Wi-Fi

Sony Electronics and Major League Baseball Advanced Media Collaborate to Offer VAIO Consumers Free Access to Live Basball Games Online

Sony Electronics Inc. and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (www.mlb.com), the interactive media company of Major League Baseball, have agreed to bundle a free, one-year subscription of MLB All Access with every purchase of a VAIO(R) notebook or desktop computer at Sonystyle.com through the end of May. Sony Electronics is currently the only consumer electronics or computer company with rights to bundle MLB All Access with its notebooks and desktop computers.

MLB All Access is a compilation of the MLB online audio and video subscription services and includes:

• MLB.TV, offering live video broadcasts of more than 280 MLB games per month (local blackouts apply);


• MLB.com Gameday Audio, offering live home and away radio broadcasts of all MLB games;


• MLB Condensed Games, offering 20-minute condensed versions of every game on MLB.TV;


• Extended Highlights;


• Searchable Video;


• Baseball's Best (on-demand rebroadcasts of classic MLB games).

"This agreement brings together consumers' passion for baseball with Sony's vision of appealing to their demands for innovative and entertaining ways to experience America's pastime," said Patrick Vogt, senior vice president of the eSolutions division at Sony Electronics.

This is a $99.95 value for those interested in purchasing but that don't want a VAIO or already have a laptop.

Texas School Ditches Textbooks, buys all kids IBM R50 Notebooks

Every fifth- and sixth-grader at Johnson Elementary in Dallas Texas will receive a $1,350 IBM ThinkPad computer loaded with digital versions of state-approved textbooks and 2,000 works of literature. If the experiment works, the program will be expanded to other grades.

"We think this is better than simply going out and buying more textbooks," said Forney Independent School District superintendent Mike Smith, who expected a shortage of 600 textbooks in August. Enrollment is projected to rise 20 percent or more at the district, and it takes three months to get new books.

According to Will Moore, an executive in IBMs education business: "If the students have all of Shakespeare's works loaded on their notebook, the school doesn't need to go out and buy all of those books," Moore said. "And the real benefit is that it's all interactive and searchable."

A bold experiment, but we're seeing more and more schools buy laptops for kids these days and colleges are requiring purchase too.

While Watching a Sporting Event In the Stadium, Nerdy San Francisco Fans Check Email on their Laptops via Wi-Fi

As the Giants infielders botched a play on the field, Al Grayson brushed peanut shells off his laptop and checked his e-mail using the new wireless network at SBC Park.

"The ability to go online and check your e-mail is wonderful,'' said the 46-year-old San Francisco resident, as he glanced back and forth from the screen to the game. "I'm downloading photographs as we speak.''

That's right, the nerds of San Francisco have clouded the stadium with Wi-Fi so just haul along your laptop computer and you can keep up to date with other sports scores, email and the rest of the world in general.

Quality Father & Son time at the ballpark...but Dad is doing work

Japanese Notebook Makers Toshiba and Fujitsu Post Strong Earnings and Notebook Sales

Toshiba Corp and Fujitsu Ltd, two of Japan's top chip and computer makers, reported strong annual earnings on Tuesday on robust semiconductor demand and forecast further growth this year.

Growing sales of digital electronics products boosted demand for Fujitsu's system chips, while a surging appetite for NAND flash memory chips, widely used in photo-snapping phones and digital cameras, sent Toshiba's earnings higher.

source: MSN News